New documentary explores the DIY metal scene inside the Navajo Nation

“There’s a lot of bands, heavy metal bands, on the Navajo reservation. And for some reason this music, this subculture, seems to permeate with the youth,” says Jerold Cecil, manager of Arizona act I Dont Konform. “What Rez Metal is — ‘rez’ is sort of an inside word for ‘reservation.’ Our brand of metal is different than anybody else … it’s blowing up.”

For one week this summer, the Everything Is Stories creative team traveled to the southwest United States and Navajo Nation territory to document the originators of the DIY Rez Metal scene, and profile the bands that are now carrying the torch, including I Dont Konform, Mutilated Tyrant, and Born of Winter.